Mask guidance updated for WVU Medicine employees located at Health Sciences Campuses

WVU Medicine recently updated masking guidance for all employees who work at non-clinical, administrative sites, including the Health Sciences campuses in Morgantown, Eastern and Charleston. Individuals who are employed by the WVU Health System, including WVU Hospitals and University Health Associates, are required to resume wearing masks when working at the Health Sciences campuses, regardless of whether the employee is vaccinated or not.

The Delta variant, now the predominant variant in the United States, is highly contagious, much more so than the original virus and some of the earlier variants. The best protection against the Delta variant however remains the available vaccines: initial studies indicate that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease and 96% effective against hospitalization from Delta, while Oxford-AstraZeneca (which is not an mRNA vaccine) was 60% effective against symptomatic disease and 93% effective against hospitalization. The studies tracked participants who were fully vaccinated with both recommended doses.

All employees are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated – they’re free; they’re readily available at Employee Health and through the Monogalia County Health Department or local health departments in areas around the State; they’re safe; and they work. WVU is hosting a series of pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics this weekend for all students, faculty and staff on the Morgantown campus as well as members of the community.

Questions may be directed to Health Sciences Incident Command at HSIC@hsc.wvu.edu.